As noted last fall in a previous column, the 2003 election cycle saw Mississippi voters make some interesting choices in terms of the 2019 election cycle in our state.
In that 2003 general election, Republican Haley Barbour unseated incumbent Gov. Musgrove by taking 52.6 percent of the vote (470,404) to 45.8 percent (409,787) for Musgrove. Down that same ballot, GOP nominee Tate Reeves won election as the first Republican state treasurer with 51.8 percent of the vote or 447,860 votes to Democrat Gary Anderson’s 46.64 percent of the vote or 403,307.
Elsewhere on that 2003 ballot, Democrat Jim Hood won election to his first term as attorney general with 62.71 percent of the vote or 548,046 votes to 37.29 percent of the vote or 325,942 for Republican Scott Newton.
A year later in 2004, Supreme Court Justice Bill Waller Jr. took 72 percent of the vote or 243,603 votes in his re-election bid over Richard Grindstaff.
Now, the expected highly-partisan 2019 Mississippi gubernatorial battle between incumbent GOP Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and incumbent Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood has been joined by Waller, who after running in non-partisan judicial elections says he will run for governor as a Republican.
The immediate reaction across the state was that Waller’s bombshell announcement reshuffles the political deck. But does it? Perhaps.
First, there’s the pedigree. Waller’s father, former Gov. Bill Waller Sr., died in 2011 at the age of 85. With his seersucker suits and outsized political persona, Waller was every inch a populist who rose to power by indicting the "Capitol Street Gang" in Jackson.
Underrated and under-appreciated as governor, the senior Waller's real legacy lies on two fronts: He provided significant leadership to bring Mississippi into the modern era on race relations, and he made the first significant appointments of black bureaucrats into state government.
The junior Waller also brings to the table a natural constituency not just from the legal profession, but from the Mississippi National Guard, where he rose to the rank of Brigadier General.
But Bill Waller Sr. was elected governor some 47 years ago. That’s a long time. While his dad won a statewide election, Waller Jr. hasn’t been elected outside the First Judicial District.
Reeves and Hood also both bring natural constituencies to the table. Waller’s surprise announcement came long after Reeves had a campaign organization firmly established among the mainstream Republicans across the state. Then there’s the not-so-small matter of the large campaign war chest that Reeves has amassed.
Hood has strong support among law enforcement, county officials, and the state’s trial bar. He has dispatched every Republican candidate thrown at him since he first won election as AG and is the state’s only current Democrat among the eight statewide elected officials.
Waller’s entry into the race may well draw other candidates into the race. The veteran jurist will be a formidable candidate. But on the GOP side at this juncture, Reeves remains the frontrunner as surely as Hood does on the Democratic side.
To change that math, Waller faces the unenviable task of amassing his own competitive campaign war chest and creating name identification outside the comfort of his former Central judicial district counties.
CLARIFICATION – In my Feb. 6 column on medical marijuana legislation in Mississippi, I wrote that despite the passage of Harper Grace’s Law – intended to allow Harper Grave Durval and other children like her to obtain treatment with cannabis oil at the University of Mississippi Medical Center - federal bureaucratic roadblocks had kept no child from receiving cannabis oil treatment at UMMC under the 2014 law. But in Nov. 2018, UMMC began a clinical trial of CBD oil treatment for up to ten patients that is ongoing.
Sid Salter is a syndicated columnist. Contact him at sidsalter@sidsalter.com.
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Sid Salter: Waller Reshuffles the Political Deck
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46 comments:
But nobody ever heard of Richard Grindstaff or Scott Newton. Then or now.
Waller has got an uphill battle with money & all.
Wishful thinking & hoping doesn't get the job done.
I'm still voting for him.
Remember The free state of Jones!
Waller could have won as an independent...which is basically what he is. He will lose to Tate which will help Hood.
I'm so thankful that I DON'T have to vote for Tate Reeves, and am not placed in having to vote for Hood, who seems to maybe work for the state from time to time..........Waller all the way
Who is Sid Salter and why does his opinion matter?
Tate wins....Waller should have faced Hood in the Democratic Socialist primary to have a shot at the crossover. He gets clobbered in a Republican primary.
Agree 12:29.
Waller is a good man, and so is Reeves.
Stay the course and vote for the future
of Mississippi. Vote Tate Reeves!
It looks like the handful of Republican insiders that don't like Tate because he didn't allow them to feed at the government trough haven't made their way to these comments yet. I'm a regular Republican voter who supports Tate, and there are more of us than the JJ comments would have you believe.
Forget Tate. Waller is the best choice.
The economy of our state isn't growing. Our population is decreasing. Our educated young people are leaving at an alarming rate.
but sure-let's keep doing what we are doing...it's everyone else that has the problem..
Obviously, there is concern in the Little Emperor's camp as Philbilly is already endorsing the little round guy.
Waller should not have listened to Josh, and his "governorwhisper" words he offered in an effort to maintain his place in the trough for government dollars. The Justice, if he really wanted to run for Governor should have jumped into the Dem primary - where he would face a currently underfunded Hood. Of course, Hood can raise money from his trial lawyer buddies instead of his current plan of waiting until he is the nominee and can call on the national Dems to pour some money down here. But for a primary, they both would be raising funds with about an even name ID for the next five months. With Waller's support in the black community - which will do him absolutely no good in the Repub primary, but would be his for the asking running against Hood - he could very well become the Dem nominee and be in good shape to take on Tate. And with his stance on expanding Medicaid, a policy that will sell good with the Dems but not with Repubs, his statute would be even better.
But, that wouldn't solve the real purpose, which was for Josh to have an opponent against Tate. Now that his story that the Gov made him do it has been blown open, I guess poor Josh's creds are falling faster than ever.
The last true conservative we had running this state as Kirk Fordice. We've had 16 straight years under establishment republicans like Barbour, Bryant and Reeves and we are still the poorest, dumbest, unhealthiest state in the country.
On top of that, we have the GOP-backed lignite plant, the Greentech fiasco and a long list of other failed GOP experiments with our money.
And the state general fund is whopping 54% bigger than it was 16 years ago. So much for "conservative".
Time for something different.
11:24, it's really not necessary for you to comment every time a Salter column is published on this site. Move on.
But Josh told me Waller was going to win and it would be goode for the state?
There is not a thing any Governor can do prevent Mississippi from being the dumbest poorest and fattest people in America.
Waller is a good man, and so is Reeves.
Stay the course and vote for the future
of Mississippi. Vote Tate Reeves!
ROTFLMAO!! Reeves is a good man!? LMAO!!!!!!!!
That egotistical sniveling som'biscuit
@3:41
UNFORTUNATELY....truer words have never been spoken. So what is there to gain by voting for a Democratic socialist...Venezuelan status ? Not me...not ever !
Aside from Bryant's asinine endorsement of Tater, do we really have to look at Bryant's mug every time we open this blog-page? For shit's shakes!
Agree with 11:24... Wish I got paid to make up a few hundred words each week with no coherent thought pattern or point...
I’m voting for Waller.
258, if your comparison is that Fordice was the 'last conservative' and he wasn't an "establishment conservative" - you need a protologist to help get your head out of your rear. Fordice was as much an establishment as the others you name - moreso than Bryant ever thought of being. Fordice was an elected Republican in 1964 - and there weren't many Repubs around back in those days - and was elected largely with the assistance of Barbour.
To say the state hasn't been conservative since ignores all those little things you don't want to acknowledge - the rainy day fund (established by Fordice) is at its maximum limit, something never done by any Democrat and fought by the Dems in the legislature, as well as by Hood. Tax cuts have reduced the tax rate on all individual tax paying citizens and the number of state employees has been cut significantly. Has government 'grown' as you say? Absolutely if you measure it in the annual budget. But annual budgets of households have grown significantly as well during that same period.
You think that Waller - with his Medicaid expansion that will cost the state an additional $400,000,000 annually on top of the $7hundred million it already costs will 'help' that budget growth? If so, then you'll really like Hood's expenditure plan, wanting to add more employees to the Mental Health Department - which already has more than two times the number of employees of the next biggest state agency, a growth that occurred from a small several hundred employees to nine thousand back during Mabus' years.
You want small, conservative government - then first learn what it is.
Our educated young people are leaving at an alarming rate.
What is the rate? Put up.
5:27 PM Other states have had programs to do Medicaid expansion at no cost by adding a fee to the provider charges. It would create tens of thousands of new jobs in Mississippi.
"5:27 PM Other states have had programs to do Medicaid expansion at no cost by adding a fee to the provider charges. It would create tens of thousands of new jobs in Mississippi. "
So, the provider (e.g., physician) is going to enthusiastically start seeing more patients, and pay for it out of his/her own pocket?
Good luck with that business model.
5:27.....The general fund budget was 4.7 billion in 2005. That is the year Barbour and Bryant assumed leadership of the budget. In 2015, the general fund budget was 6.4 billion. My family budget has not grown by 36% over that period. Conservative my ass.
5:27.....you can't call a person a Waller supporter just because said person points out that state spending has grown 50% under Barbour/Bryant/Tate over the last 4 terms.
On a more positive note, we did manage to stay in 50th place in everything while we were at it, so cheers to consistency.
And we kept the flag. So, by your definition of conservative, I suppose we are doing just fine.
Y'all can vote for whomever you wish, but I'm going to vote for Fleet...and I hope he manages to insert himself as high as possible into the dark, stinking hole that is Jackson politics. Hey, who knows, maybe at least he will be able to flush SOMETHING good out of the recesses of the system.
Waller is gonna have a boatload of old money from Oxford. And then he will move the state capital there win he wins.....oops. I spilled the beans.
Well for me Waller getting in first help. I never would vote for Tate but don’t know what if anything Waller can do. I am sure he was a good judge but for me that doesn’t translate to a good governor. Judges make decision s independent of others. They may agree with other judges but being governor or any other elected official means a lot of people influence your decisions. That being said I’ll vote for anyone but take.
Other states have had programs to do Medicaid expansion at no cost by adding a fee to the provider charges.
Name the states.
This whole primary is about to be a sludge fest. I almost feel bad that many prominent Republicans have endorsed Reeves when Waller was more suitable. I'm voting for Robert Foster, myself. And then I'll vote for Hood before Reeves any day. At least Reeves will have to fight (and open his wallet) for it
"...a boatload of old money from Oxford..."
And just where is Oxford going to get any OLD money? It might load up Waller with a bunch of new money and even some slightly-used money, but real OLD antique money? Nope, because there isn't any. That said, if certain Oxford folks get in a check-writing mood, even if it is NEW money, and back Waller's play, Reeves is plain old fucked.
Just tossing this out there, but has anyone else yet considered that Reeves might just take his campaign toys and head to the house? Well, at least until it comes time to put Cindy Lou-Who back on down on the farm. As things played out, I never really understood why the Totster was running for Guv when the Senate seems much more his, um, "style," plus, that is a race he'd likely be able to just about waltz through.
Who the hell is 'Fleet'?
Meanwhile; Once again the ever-arrogant, partially duck-tailed, Feelip Brant, comes out for a loser. The man just can NOT keep his mouth shut. Let the damned process work. Who does he think he is to suppose anybody on the planet cares who he endorses?
Cindy Lou got put on a train to D.C. Jed Clampett got the Ag Job. Cory managed to get a judgeship up in Madison. Then there's The Gunslinger over at MHP who actually believes he is Elliott Ness. If nothing else, Feel is consistent. And his retirement check with further tilt the PERS system out of balance.
Ole Sid finds something every week to avoid talking about his buddy Trump.
@ February 20, 2019 at 10:28 PM
"This whole primary is about to be a sludge fest. I almost feel bad that many prominent Republicans have endorsed Reeves when Waller was more suitable. I'm voting for Robert Foster, myself. And then I'll vote for Hood before Reeves any day. At least Reeves will have to fight (and open his wallet) for it"
Agreed, I am right there with you. 16 years of Tate Reeves spinning conservative bullsh*t and rhetoric is enough. No way in hell do I help promote him to Governor.
Hood will focus on the sh*t that matters - infrastructure, teachers, jobs.
There's more to Mississippi than Rankin & Madison County. We need a Governor that is going to care about all 82 counties.
"Waller could have won as an independent...which is basically what he is. He will lose to Tate which will help Hood."
Please tell us how that might 'help Hood', unless you think he'll get 51% of the vote. But, even if he does, Waller would not have influenced that.
Hood will have no choice but to burn cycles running away from his national Party and that he wants to jack up state taxes. Good luck with that Jimbo.
Hood will have no choice but to burn cycles running away from his national Party and that he wants to jack up state taxes. Good luck with that Jimbo.
To jack up taxes!? Hell, we already pay an arm and a leg in ad valorem taxes, we pay 7% sales taxes on everything just about, income taxes are only high for the people making under $100k.
If anything he is going to find ways to ease up taxes that affect the poor and middle class.
I am getting my popcorn ready for this election season. This should be a good season!
Waller isn’t a serious candidate. If he were a serious candidate he would have stepped down from court when he made his announcement last fall to begin fundraising, organizing a campaign, and meeting GOP operatives across the state. Instead he sat on court until end of January and then waited another two weeks to “announce.” That is not a serious candidacy
February 20, 2019 at 6:15 PM: 50% of those under 35 have left the state. Not that this bothers the ostriches Luke Bryant and Reeves.
Sid who?
1058, what are you smpking? Or drinking? Or both? Hood has for years promoted more spending in dizens if areas of the state's budget - how in the hell do you think he is going to pay for those costs without jacking up taxes. (Btw, those ad valorous taxes you mention don't go to the state -,they are city and county so you don't have to worry about him jacking thise.) If he tries to fund his tripling of the mental health budget, and his Medicaid expansion, and his public education 'fully funding' our budget would double. So, either taxes are going way up, or there won't be any spending on anything else.
The state's educated millenials are leaving 6:15.
https://mississippitoday.org/2018/08/17/key-economic-report-confirms-mississippi-losing-millennials-faster-than-any-other-state/
Again we are FIRST at being LAST. Only someone living under a rock wouldn't see that.
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